bedtime reading

the verdict. 

barry reed's exciting courtroom drama. 

reading it for class and i'm told the movie is good too.

might have stayed up till 2am last night reading it.

tried to explain to jazz (many times) that reading in

bed (at bedtime) has the opposite effect on me as him.

he usually wipes out after 30 minutes. it wakes me up. 

interrupts that precious little 5 minute interval i literally

have to go to sleep in, before my mind wakes up again - 

and keeps me up for hours.

but, it's also testament to how interesting a book is:)

and, after he tried to turn the light off in his sleep at 2am, 

i finally put it down and yes, eventually got to sleep.

oh baby

this lovely lady's new baby boy!

besides being super cool and

super beautiful (and makes a super 

mean butternut squash soup:), she's

now going to be the best mama ever. 

i'm so excited for her. 

congratulations mama and papa chanpong! 

leslie in the kitchen from the good ole days:)

precious oliver amos chanpong

also, after reading about this baby shower's

theme, i think i have to get some cool books

for baby oliver.

what are the best "first" books?

the mex.

chips and guac. 

while we may have been secretly planning where

we'd eat breakfast tacos in austin this november, 

(torchy's and jo's on 2nd made the list so far)

we also really like taqueria del sol, here in atlanta

(as does everyone else apparently-the line was super long).

cheese enchiladas, mexican rice and beans and

almost nothing beats chips and guacamole. 

am i right?

someday (soon i hope)

unpacking my book boxes

and having them all out for me to look at.

these are just 2/3 of the boxes that have been

sitting full of all my books for a year now. 

the rest are in our bedroom. 

i can't wait to move them into a new space

and shelve them. or not - just lay them out on 

tables and stack them on the floor for 

makeshift end tables. 

i'm sure there are some i need to get rid of —

so i can buy more! :)

this is where i'll be...

Atlanta magazine.

where i'm going to be interning this fall.

i'm so excited! i can't believe i get to intern at 

such a cool magazine. i always thought 

magazines were much too competitive and

elusive for the likes of me...

curled up on the couch

my summer schedule.

it may not include a lot of pool time, 

or tubing down the river,

or working with my hands, 

or fairs or visits to the farmer's market,

fresh fruit picking, camping,

barbeques or picnics, drive-in movies, 

day trips to museums or weekend get-aways.

not much going on around these parts,

but at least there's no alarm clocks, 

plenty of AC, plenty of coffee, 

plenty of time to read and write, 

going to classes at art school,

and exercise. 

photo from last summer's trip to Vancouver

bedtime

a little movie.

this is what bedtime looks for me

american writers

raymond carver.

before starting this collection of stories, 

i'd only read "a small, good thing."

which was good and sad by itself.

it's kind of hard to describe what reading

raymond carver is like. it's sort of like 

chewing your way through a bag of 

pretzels. they're small, and not great, 

and at the end, you feel full of nothing, 

but for some reason, there's pleasure in 

the constant, continual, small munching.

and you feel you've gotten something.

i doubt that really means much. i should probably

come up with a better comparison. 

well, this collection is entirely too obsessed with

emptiness and sex and really sad people.

and yet, i could probably learn a thing or two

from him about how to tell a story well, simply, sparingly.

spicy

ginger cookies.

something about overcast, lazy afternoons that make

me want to bake (yeah, that cookie diet didn't last very long).

unfortunately these spicy ginger cookies

could have been better. as in, not square, flat and crispy. 

they weren't cold enough before baking and maybe

should have been smaller :)

further and farther

a going away party

for our friend pearl who is going to north carolina 

to start a phd program at chapel hill!

congratulations pearl!

pearl smiling for the camera

riley, the dog, hiding from a three-year-old

games!

flowers!

chandelier!

lemonade!

i kind of really like exclaiming!

photo friday

fresh (colorful) food love.

and other photos from this week:

 

oo da la li

sometimes, the sky threatens to fall,

you wake up feeling like the world is ending,

(or that it should),

nothing seems important or interesting...

so i put on gloves and deep-cleaned the house.

and by that, i mean mopped and cleaned out

the microwave.

then, i went to whole foods and splurged on organic apples,

garlic-stuffed olives and a white english cheddar. 

i also made  acorn squash. 

which is maybe supposed to be a winter vegetable.

but i kind of feel like breaking the rules right now. 

:)

again with the reading

deliverance.

i've only just started it, so no spoilers, 

but i'm told it's one of the best novels of the

last fifty years. or something like that. 

it's all subjective of course.

still, i like that it begins with a map. 

p.s. also reading some other things, i find it's best

to have a few things going at once, don't you?

some for pure pleasure and some for life

and literature.

book nook

shelves of wonderful, old, dusty books.

i'm trying to work my way through all the used bookstores

i can find here. today, i discovered the Book Nook in

Decatur. Book Nook II, its sister store in Lilburn, was a

staple for me when we were living with the in laws. 

and this one is only 10 minutes away, now.

score. 

i could just wander around those aisle for hours.

via

august already?

it's still summer.

i'm not sure whether to be happy or sad that it's already august.

this summer is going so fast. i feel like i've barely started things, 

but really we're right in the middle. just five more weeks of

summer quarter, then of course fall quarter will be here. i'm 

right at that point in my writing schedule where i'm supposed

to have my nose to the grind (does that sound wrong?).

i'm ready for cooler weather, but i'm also enjoying the slower pace

of my summer schedule. waking up on time is getting harder and harder. 

i am just not a morning person. it's always about 10 at night

when i feel a sudden burst to start cleaning or go run errands

or start homework. but then i think, no it's bedtime, 

i can't start anything. so then, i don't. and then, it's 24 hours

later by the time i have that feeling again. i think it's the curse

of hot weather. (i hope). 

other things this month:

1. finding a house

2. keep up the writing momentum

3. getting up early enough to exercise before it's too hot

4. barbeque outing at stone mountain

5. rereading The Road

6. swimming while it's still hot out